Vehicle alining and storing means.



,1. c. BONNER. l VEHICLE ALININGZAND STORING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR, 3l. 19H.

meme@ oet. l1, 1918.

muuu-L .jacent the another application,

' ITED STATES Parana carica.

JOSEPH BONNER, 0F TOLEDO, OHIO.

VEHICLE ALINING AND STORING Specification of Letters Patent. v

iicatlon.

and storing means; and it comprises'in come bination with parallel track Iof a railroad, a guide on the outsideof either orbothf of the tracks, the guide provided with Injn's', advantageously an upward and outward y projecting or flaring end 'adapted to befengaged bythe wheels oflthe vehicle to bepositioned with respect to the tracks, such end preliminarilyldirecting the wheels along the guide, the guide being further provided with means along fits length, advantageously, ai

substantially vertical liange, c wheels and keep. 'them spaced the desired distance from 'the' rail; and it comprises more particularly' apair of guiding means in-` combination withf'parallel tracks of a railroad, the guiding means comprising a pair of subtracks having atA one or both ends outwardly flaring portions which have intermediate thelr ends a continuous member adapted to hicle astraddle thetrack in such a position as willpermit a flat railroad car to be driven beneath it; and the invention still further comprises in combination with the guides, a supplemental pair of storing tracks each of whichisin longitudinal allnement-with a guide and: eachof which has a flaring end, the storagey tracks advantageously being spaced from the'l guides, to permit vehicles to be driven on the guides from'the ends advstoring tracks; all as more full hereinafter set forth and as claimed. 1

In transporting freight one of the main problems is the loading and unloading of the goods. Usually the freight is delivered'in a road wagon to the freight terminal and there the freight is unloaded and packed in the freight cars. When the freight is delivered to its freight terminal is then transferred inl bulk to road vehicles and. delivered to its ultimate destination. In Serial N o. 867,865, filed October 21, 1914:', I have shown and described a transportation system lin which the road wagon is of wider freight car, and in which the arrangement Application led March 31, 1917. Serial N o. 158,878.`

@upon one liat freight car and where numerous road n 1n combination with railroad ears, to engage the maintain the wheels of the ve the vehicle in destlnation, it'

gage than the standardv Patented Oct. il, 19u18.

and combination of the road wagon and freight car are such that the freight car may be straddled by the road vehicle and the road vehicle elevated to a point where its wheels are above the track level for transportation. f- Usually several road vehicles are loaded Under --certain conditions, particularly wagons are to be loaded uponthe freight cars, it is-a diiicult matter to yproperly positionroad wagons with respect to the freight car may be' drawn upon the cars or the cars j drawn under the wagons.. l v

. The present invention provides means for properly alining the road'wagons with re,- spect to the cars.I While one of the main ads V vantages of the present invention is its usey I 'may of course use it in combination with power driven vehicles such, for instance, as I have described and claimedin my copending app ication Serial No. 186,983,

7, in whichevent tracks are provided for t e power driven vehicle.4

It is ofcourse advantageous'that there shall be verylittle clearance between the `road wagon and the' carrying car, so that the gage of the road wagon need not be unnecessarily increased over that of the car. It is obvious that whenthere is this small clear-l ance,vthe loadingof the road vehicle upon the carrying cars will be greatly facilitated if the road wagons are properly alined with respectkto the tracks.

'- the road wagon may be easily guided. The

narrow intermediate portions of these channel irons serve to further guide and hold roper position. The storage tracks maya vanta'geously be angle irons having inwardly flaring ends and are usually much longer v than the ides. They are spaced distance to permit a wagon to be loaded onto the guides between `the storage tracks and the guides. If the guides are used in connection with tracks mounted filed August 18, i

away from the gui es only a suiicient and storage tracks many such road vehicles ,are loaded upon a train.

This invention `.relates to vehicle'alininlg'4 r 55 so that the wagons te? medias upon ties and if the road bed is not level with the ties, I usually v use a pair of supplemental tracks connecting the two but not having any flanges. The guides and tracks need not necessarily have the wheel traveling surface integral with the Hanges and flaring ends. When the railroad tracks are inset, for instance, in a concrete foundation, it is only necessary that the guides and storage tracks be provided with the vertical portions, the road bed forming the wheel traction surface.

ln the accompanying drawings showing a specific embodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing the alining guides and storage tracks in proper position with respect to the railroad tracks;

Fig. 2 is a center longitudinal sectional view of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a detail plan showing one of the guides having only one vertical ange.

Referring to the drawings, the railroad tracks 1 are'supported by the ties 2 and, when two guides are used, each of them is arranged parallel to, but outside, of a track. l'.llhe guides 3 are spaced a distance apart corresponding to the distance between the wheels of the road vehicle. These guides may be in the form of channel bars as shown in Figs. l to 4, inclusive, or they may be in the form of vertical strips, as is shown in Fig. 5. rlhe intermediate or main section l of each of the guides when mounted upon the ties, as is usual, forms the traction surface, and the vertical wall 5 extending from the intermediate section forms intermediate guiding members between the ends of the guide as a whole. At the ends `of the guides, when two vertical walls are used, these walls flare outwardly as at G, forming a wide entrance or ath 7 into which the vehicle may be easilyy riven. As the 'vehicle moves toward the center of the guide, the diverging walls force the wheels into the narrower intermediate section and thereby aline the vehicle with respect to the tracks 1. lf only one guide is used, the driver should be careful to bear toward thewall so that the od wheels not on a guide will be properly positioned with respect to the off track. rlhe storage tracks 8 are spaced a slight distance from the alining guides in order to permit vehicles to drive into the ends of the guides adjacent the storage tracks. rl`hese storage` ment of the vehicles wit-h respect to the railroad tracks, but l find it advantageous to restrict the height of the walls of the storage tracks as much as possible to permit vehicles to drive across them.l As is shown in Figs. 3 and l grooved rails, such as are used inthe construction of city car tracks, are best employed in carrying out this invention and the space between the rails is paved with any suitable material, as at l2. W'hcn a vehicle is driven into position it is at times necessary to drive the horses into the space between the guides and storage tracks and this pavement facilitates the travel of the vehicle when loaded or unloaded on or off the guides.

The operation of this invention kis obvious. The guides steer the front' wheels and the rear wheels of the vehicle so that it is prop erly positioned over the railroad tracks. rThe vehicle may then be drawn to the storage tracks and left there until the railroad freight car is driven thereunder.

rlhis invention is best adapted for use in stations where the amount of freight handled is considerable. The alining guide and the storage tracks are best arranged upon a siding in order that the wagons can be stored for any length of time without interfering with the railroad schedule. As is shown in Fig. 3, the base portions of the guides are preferably inclined toward the railroad tracks which facilitates guiding. dvantageously the guides are at a slightly higher level than the storage tracks to facili- .tate the delivery of the loaded wagons from the guides to the storage tracks.

What I claim is l l. The combination with parallel tracks of a railroad, of vehicle alining means comprising a guide on the outside of each track, the guide provided with a Haring end adapted to be engaged by the wheels of the vehicle to reliminarily direct the wheels along the gui e and the Guide being further provided with means azlong its length to engage the wheels and keep them spaced the desired distance from the rail.

2. The combination of railroad tracks and alining means of claim l together with a pair of longitudinal storing tracks.

3. A construction in accordance with claim are spaced from the guides.

A2 in which one 4. A construction in accordance with claim 1 1n which one 1de 1s used.

5. A construction in accordance with claiml in which one storage track is used.

6'. A construction in accordance with claim guide is used.

7 A constructlon in accordance with claim 2 in which one storage' track is used.

8. A construction in accordance with claim 3 in which one guide is used. 9. A construction in accordance with claim 3 in which one storage track is used.

10. The Acombination with parallel tracks of a railroad, of vehicle alining means comi vprising a guide having a base portion and two parallel vertical walls, the vertical walls at the ends of the guides flaring outwardly to provide a wider path for the vehicle than the path intermediate the flaring ends.

k11. In combination, a rail track, -and means for positioning a wagon with respect -to said track with the wheels of thewagon equally spaced. from the rails of said track,'

said means comprising a member having a base portion and a vertically disposed wall extending above the base portion.

12. In combination, a railroad track, guides positioned upon each side of said track and adapted to aline a vehicle whereby the wheels of the vehicle will be equally spaced from the rails of the track, said guides comprising base portions and vertically disposed walls extending above said base portions.

13. In combination, a railroad track, and,

guides positioned upon each side of said Y track adapted to aline the vehicle whereby the wheels of the vehicle will be equally spaced from the rails of the track, and means provided at, the endsof the guides to facilitate alining of the vehicle, each of said guides comprisin a base or tread portion and a vertical wal extending above said base or tread.

14. In combination, a railroad track, channel bars arranged upon each side of the track at an equal distance from the rails, the ends of the channel bars being widened to permit a wagon to be driven. into the channel bars. v

15.. In combination, a railroad track, means for alining a vehicle with respect to said track, and storage tracks comprising rails equally spaced from the rails of the track and in ahnement with said alining means.

' 16. In combination, a railroad track, means for alining a vehicle with respect tosaid track and a storage track comprising an angle bar arranged upon each side of the track, spacedfrom the rails of the same and in alinement with said alinin means.

17. In combination, a railroad track, means for alining a Vehicle with respect to said track and a stora 'track comprising an angle bar arrange upon each side of the track, and in alinement with said alining means, the ends of said angle `iron being widened to facilitate the passing of vehicles thereon.

In testimony whereof I aX my signature.

'JSJEPH C. lBONNER. 

